


A Monday Night

by AnonIA



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Dinners, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Dam, Slice of Life, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-12-16 03:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21029768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonIA/pseuds/AnonIA
Summary: This was the life they now had, it wasn’t the easiest, but it was certainly way better than the one they’d had lived in prior to the apocalypse or in the middle of it.Never once had they come to realize how attached they’d grown to the town.The life they now had, wasn't the easiest, but they had the other to ease the pain that came with it.





	A Monday Night

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya, everybody! It’s been a while since I’ve released a story for y’all to read. This story may be interpreted as another installment of the A Bittersweet Paradise for Two universe, though it can be read as a stand-alone.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!! I’ve worked on it for a month now just to release it today. 
> 
> This piece was inspired to blossom after I narrated what ABP42 was about to a new friend of mine, I’m sorry if this story doesn’t have enough gay panic, man :(( I hope it’s still enjoyable!!
> 
> As I haven't figured out how footnotes work yet, I'll have "*" this symbol for the dialogues that are in Spanish, that you can find the meaning in English for, at the End Notes. uU

His chest was heaving, as he ran and ran, trying to get to his friend before _someone_ else did. He had to warn him of what could come. They had to leave. Now. Fuck his mom, fuck this plan, to hell with it all, as long as _he_ was safe and out of harm’s way, nothing else mattered. He hadn’t gotten this far in protecting him, lying for him, only for that plan to end up with losing the only person who understood him so well after all this time alone in the apocalypse.

His mom and him were just talking as he made it into the room, his shoulders sunk slightly at the sight of him, flooded with relief. He tried to catch his breath, he had to be quick. Troy eyed him with worry.

“Nick, is everything alright?” Troy asked, having no idea of what his fate could be.

“Troy, we have to go.” Nick rasped out, having hope for it to come out as an order, but he was still out of breath.

“What’s going on?” Madison interjected.

He didn’t need to offer her any explanations, especially not now, and not ever again. He wasn’t a kid anymore, the world wasn’t what it used to be, he didn’t have to justify his actions to her, he didn’t need her.

“Nick, but we have to—.” argued back Troy.

“Now.” Nick demanded, and the other slowly made his way towards him.

“Why do you both have to leave in such a hurry?” Madison demanded, grasping at one of Troy’s shoulders and holding him back. He shot him a “Sorry, Nicky” but also, “Help me cause I don’t have the guts to argue with your mom” look. Puppy eyes and all.

“Strand sold us out, mom!” He sputters.

“He what?” She hissed.

Time was ticking and he wanted to get as far from it all with Troy as soon as possible, he pointedly look at Troy, he let out, “And If Daniel sees _him_, he’ll kill him!”

Troy’s eyes widened then, Madison eyeing the two of them in, growing more confused with every passing second.

“Why would he want to kill Troy, if Strand was the one who sold us out, Nick?”

The curly-hair boy shut his eyes then, letting out a deep breath, his hands now getting clenched into fists. Feeling like his fate was long overdue and there was no way to outrun it. But that wasn’t Nick’s truth, he had to believe.

“Nick?”

When the boy opened his eyes, it was clear he now knew what could become of him, “We should tell her.” his guilty look signaled. To which Nick’s eyes widened and started to shake his head lightly, “Not yet. Not here. Especially not _now_, Troy.” he signaled back.

“Guys?”

“Well, I’m gonna tell her.” Troy signaled defiantly to him.

To which point Nick tried to stop him with words, “Troy, _don't—_”

“I led the horde to the ranch” He guiltily declared, and a pregnant silence followed.

Madison slowly walked backwards, in shock. Clearly many things were running through Madison’s head then. The story was different now, Nick and Troy hadn’t seen the horde coming and were unable, Troy had led that horde to the ranch, and they were unable to stop it after.

He was to blame for where they were now, deprived her family of staying with her, settling down with her, remaining on her sight. Now her kids wanted nothing to do with her, and it was because of him. If Troy had been even the slightest less selfish and more respectful, tolerant, they wouldn’t be where they were now, she and her kids would all be at the ranch settled down, and Troy would be long gone somewhere, alone.

She clenched her hand around her hammer. Nick knew what was about to happen, he had to stop it, he had to. She was fuming, she wasn’t thinking clearly, she hadn’t seen Troy was changing, nobody understood him like he did.

Madison slowly raised the hammer and before it could hit Troy, Nick was right in front of it, willing to take the hit for him, the blame, all of it.

Nick didn’t know what happened next, he didn’t feel anything, his emotions leaving him that moment. Madison was frozen, in a state of shock. He felt something run down his forehead, he touched it, it was blood, _his_ own blood. And it hit him, he was bleeding.

He looked back at her, unsure of what to say to her. His body suddenly tired, aching, begging him to take a nap. Nick started to slowly blink, trying to fight off the urge to sleep. But the idea of it suddenly sounding very enticing for Nick, the rest could wait, it’ll only be a few seconds, he had a headstart to Daniel. Nick was keeping his promise, he’d get Troy out of there before Daniel got to him, he just needed to close his eyes for just a few seconds...

So he did, he closed his eyes, _just a few seconds_, he stubbornly kept reminding himself, and his whole body following him into sleep, leaning towards one side as if his body would fall against a soft mattress. Nick rolled down the hill.

“Nick!” Troy had shouted, after snapping from the shock of Nick taking Madison’s hit for him, his hands grasping at him a little too late to stop him from rolling down the hill.

He then slid down the small hill of dirt.

At his side in a heartbeat, he put a hand on his back to inch him closer to him, while the other worked to brush away the hair for his face for any sign of response. He shook him slightly.

“Nick?” He asked, before rubbing his thumb against his cheek, however, Nick still gave no response to his touch.

“Nicky, wake up.” He croaked, his heart slowly breaking slightly with every passing second without reply. Tears slowly threatening to fall and blur his vision, “Nick, this isn’t funny anymore.”

“Troy…” Madison tried to say.

That only caused Troy to cradle Nick closer to his chest, he wasn’t gonna let her take him. Troy closed his eyes, his body shaking as he was trying to restrain all of the whirls of emotion he was experiencing from bursting out. But he couldn’t keep it in, he wasn’t strong enough to hold all these foreign feelings in, he would never stand a chance against them.

So he let out his first mourning wail at the loss of his friend, something in him breaking then. He didn’t care who heard him anymore, nothing mattered, the only person who finally had truly been there for him, had been taken away from him, right in front of his eyes. Didn’t care if walkers heard him, or even if Daniel came to take his life. A world without Nicky was no world he’d like to live in now.

Even with his eyes closed, tears spilled and rolled down his cheeks, he hid his face in the crook of his neck. He gripped him tightly in his arms, hoping then that Nick would raise his arms and wrapped them around him, comfort him, reassure him that everything was going to be alright. His wails slowly turning into sobs, reminiscing over his memories of Nick. His hair, his smile, his laugh, the things he did, no detail went unsighted. A small part of him still holding hope.

“Nicky, please wake up” he whimpered, “I need you to wake up, I need— Wake up, Nick, I can’t do this without you…”

“Troy, you have to leave…” Madison started again.

“I’M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT HIM!" He shouted, before whispering "...I'm not leaving without him." 

"Let Daniel come and shoot me, or even better, finish the job you poorly executed.” He hissed and glared at her through tears, “I hope it was worth it, witch. I hope it was...fucking. worth it.”

He returned his attention back to Nick, kissing his forehead. His hope had faded, he wasn’t getting him back now, might as well wait and leave with him.

“Leave, Madison.” He said as calm as he could manage while sniffling, as he saw she didn’t move, his anger returned and he spat “Find the detonator and make this place fall to the ground. Because it seems that’s the only thing you’re good at. Destroying you lay your presence on.”

She stayed there before he shouted again, “_NOW!_” and she jolted and took a step back, before turning away and making her way to leave.

Troy then lifted Nick in his arms, his legs somewhat wobbly but he’d manage, he wanted to get this over with. Finding Daniel was his priority now, he wanted to get this done, he wanted to die.

So he walked his Nick in his arms until he came face to face him, he had been fuming at a distance and was now looking more like he was gonna be the one to get shot, eyes widened and shocked.

Troy laughed through tears, moving to kneel in front of Daniel with Nick still in his arms, “Guess it was only a fair trade that he’d be taken away from me, after I took someone from you, don’t you think?”

He turned to look down at Nick, caressing his cheek, sniffling before croaking out, “You know, he came to warn me, we were gonna leave before you made it to me.”

“We were gonna be far away from here, away from all this chaos, we were gonna be…” Troy couldn’t bring the word “happy” up at a time like this, he was from feeling that, he brushed away with his arm tears, before hissing, “He was so stupid, so stupid, to take the hit that was clearly directed at me…”

“I led that horde to the ranch.” Troy conceded, nodding through tears, “Nicky, he, he knocked some sense into me, we tried to stop it, I swear we did but— We couldn’t...It was too late.”

“Everyone left alive is clearly mad at me, they’ve got all the right to be. For Madison, I took away Nick, partially Alicia, a chance for her to still have a grasp on her kids. For Alicia, I took away Jake.”

“For you, I took away Ofelia.”

Daniel tensed up at the mention of her name, slowly lifting the gun to Troy’s forehead.

“Can’t even say how sorry I am for that now, I am. Learned the hard way, as always.” He joked poorly, looking down at Nick as he said it.

He brushed away hair from his face again, he turned back to Daniel, “I’ve got nothing to live for now, so please, kill me. The guilt, the loss, it’s driving me mad, and I can’t deal...I can’t handle it. I— Please, kill me, I beg you. I can’t go on without him, I really can’t. Do what you had come to do. To protect the innocent, punish the guilty. I beg you.”

“I don’t wanna turn back into the monster I was.” choked up he finishes, closing his eyes, grasping at the gun as if Daniel would possibly pull it away, “I had deserved to be put down a long time ago, but nobody dared to pull the trigger... Offered me mercytime_, and time again_, when I did not _deserve_ it. Now there’s more blood in my hands than I can make up for. Please...pull the trigger, for all the bad I’ve caused, all the harm… Everything.”

The safety lock could be heard being released, and then a shot echoed.

[---]

Troy opened his eyes, gasping for air, blinking tears away and found his body was trembling. He tried to look around, but the room felt like it was spinning, plus it didn’t help that his vision was somewhat blurry.

He couldn’t wrap his head around what had just happened. He felt still felt very alive, so if he wasn’t dead, had Daniel chosen to spare him? _Nonono_, Troy pleaded as he shook his head, letting out a sob.

He suddenly felt weight on top of him, he tried to push it away, trying to wrestle with whatever force was trying to restrain him, both of his hands getting pinned down as a result. He huffed, stopping his struggle momentarily before resuming, it wasn’t until his vision cleared and he was met with the sight of Nick looking down at him concerned, that he finally surrendered.

Seeing that Nick very much looked alive, made his heart ached, but also filled with relief. Troy noted that he didn’t have a bandage or scar from the wound inflicted by Madison’s hammer on his temple. He flinched at the contact of Nick’s hand coming to rest beside his face, rubbing his thumb on his cheek.

“Are you with me now, Troy?”

And that was the last straw, got his heart to shatter into a million pieces and get glued back up in a matter of seconds, getting to hear his voice once again.

“Nicky…” He whispered, filled with emotion.

“I’m here, Troy, I’m here.” Nick reassured him, leaning in to place a kiss on his forehead, before whispering, “I’m here, you hear me? I’m not going anywhere.”

Nick’s other hand slowly let go of his grip on Troy’s hands. Afterwards, one snaked into Nick’s hair while the other wrapped around his back, pulling him into a closer embrace.

“How do I know, this isn’t a dream, Nicky?” the blue-eyed boy croaked as he petted Nick’s, “How do I know you’re actually real?"

“Hmm, thought touch would break it up for you but,” Nick started lifting himself with a smile and he raised his hand, “How many fingers am I holding up, right now?”

“Three.”

“Any extra fingers or less?”

“No, you’ve got exactly five.” declared Troy, only Nick would crack a joke at a time like this, “Not that I would love you any less if you had more or less finger—”

He stopped himself there, tensing up, still not fully down to earth, “I have told you, I love you, have I?”

“Uuh, no?” Nick joked, faking a quizzical look, and it was totally worth it.

Troy’s face heated up then, realizing his mistake, hands going to cover up his face in embarrassment, “Oh god, I’m sorry, Nicky. Forget I ever mentioned it, I’m pretty content with just your mere presence around.”

Nick cackled with a grin, “I’m just messing with you, Troy!”

He leaned in again to remove his hands from his face, the other blinking up at him, his lips trembling, so he closed the distance between them.

He then leaned into his ear and whispered, “Done way more filthier things in this bed.” before nibbling his ear causing Troy to let out an undignified and distressed noise.

[---]

“Troy, we’re gonna have to talk about it eventually, you know?” Nick said as he stubbed out his cigarette.

Troy had decided staring at the ceiling was far more interesting at the moment, fidgeting before letting out a sigh, “I know, I know, I just— It wasn’t real, why should we even worry about it, you know?”

“...Troy, no nightmare has woken you up this bad.”

Troy shrugged, “Well, this one just caught me off-guard, that’s all.”

Nick then turned to face him, “And it could also be one to eat you alive inside. Talk to me.”

The other then just started glancing Nick momentarily, pondering whether to tell him or not, brows furrowing.

“We were at the dam…” He started, his gaze focused on his hands, still fidgeting, “W-we had gone to warn your mom, like I advised to…”

Nick scooted closer, gently caressing one of his hands, “We’ve got all the time in the world, Troy, take your time.”

His heart will never fail to be moved by Nick’s compassion. He turned his hand and grabbing a hold his, lifting it to his lips and giving it a kiss. As flashes of the dream haunted him, he remained unable to meet his gaze, a tear rolled down his cheek as he sniffled.

Nick gave Troy’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

He brushed away the tears with his arm, “Everything was kinda how it originally happened. We were preparing to receive the proctors, to-to make the place fall to the ground with their arrival. Separate at this time, I was to deal with...your mom, placing the explosives and what not. And you were...With Daniel.”

Nick’s eyes widened then.

Troy chuckled at that, “Just like you had described it, I felt like I had been there as well. _He knew I had led the horde to the ranch, needed someone else to confirm it, in some way_. You put up a tough cover though,_ lied to protect me_, yet he still..._ didn’t believe you._ You came running to where I was, you wanted us to _leave_ then, really not giving a damn about our mission anymore."

“Your mom, you didn’t want to offer her any explanation, you didn’t _owe_ her one anyway, but without one. She wouldn’t just.._.Let me go._” He sniffled.

“You kept insisting that I should not tell her, but I confessed anyways, and she was about to hit me with a hammer she had been using, but…” He started getting choked up, hard to breathe, but Nick had to know, he had to— “_Nicky, you came to stand in front of me._ You—”

“Shhh…” Nick said, bringing Troy closer so he could cradle him in his chest.

Troy hits him in the chest as he sobbed out, “You took the hit for me, _Nick_, I saw you roll down the small hill of dirt, and I— _Nicky, I lost you, and it felt like the worst shit ever._ Like, like a limb had been torn away. But that was so stupid, Nick, so stupid, don’t ever do that for me, okay? Don’t you _dare—_”

His breath hitched, and fists came to curl around his shirt as he continued sobbing out. Nick just rested his head on top of his, rubbing circles on his back and giving him small reassurances.

“Let it go, Troy, we’ll be fine. I promise.”

[---]

Metal could be heard getting dragged against the stone walls. Which barely help calm the man’s nerves, he was being chased. Kept looking back hoping he’d lose the sight of him, but there he was, a tall shadow with a bloody oddly-carved wood mask and a machete.

He wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve being hunted by it, but he was. His legs slowly giving away with the panic, getting ahold of the wall, as with each step the stranger grew closer to him.

When finally, he slid down the wall and protected his face with his hands, the stranger looming over him. It just stood there eyeing him strangely, as if he was unsure of what to do with him. He decided to give it a go at pleading for his life

“Please, don’t kill me, sir! Please! I’ll do anything you want, I swear, but please spare me!”

“Anything I want?” The stranger echoed with a distorted voice, tilting his head to the side.

“Yes, anything!” He said, nodding frantically, grabbing one of his legs to which the stranger just shook to get him to let go of him.

The stranger crouch down, leaning into him, placing his bloody machete under his chin, and he growled, “I want you to leave this place and never. Ever. Come back. If I ever see your face again around here, I’ll hunt down all of those you love and see that you watch me take the life out of their eyes. Now, _go._”

The man scrambled onto his feet and ran away.

The stranger took off the mask, letting out a yawn, clearly bored now. He then heard slow clapping behind him, which caused him to perk up and turn towards the source. The stranger shot him a grin, “Nicky! Didn’t know I had an audience, I would’ve put more of a spectacle!”

Nick rolled his eyes before making his way towards him, “Never mind that, it’s a good thing you got him to leave.”

“Of course, Nicky. Couldn’t have him walking this place when he clearly was doing some damage to it. There’s a balance to respect within these walls and he just wasn’t having it.”

Nick grabbed one of his hands, intertwining their fingers, the other’s brain kinda shortcircuiting because of it. He dragged him to follow as he swung his arm, “Wanna grab something to eat at Lupe’s?”

Troy groaned, “Yes, please. God, I’m starving.”

The other just chuckled at the comment.

“I’m being serious! Scaring off bad guys takes sooo much out of my precious time.”

“Like you don’t enjoy it.” Nick teased.

“Hmm, but having you around makes it more fun.” Troy noted with a pout.

“Another time, another time, Troy.” Nick replied reassuringly, “By the way, Lupe said she made tamales today.”

“Nothing like a good meal after such arduous work.” Troy sighed dramatically, moving to rest his head against Nick’s shoulder with a smile.

Nick just rolled his eyes at the comment.

[---]

The bead curtain clattered as two wood-carved masked figures sporting blood walked through it. Bodies, alcohol, and the scent of sweat mingled as they entered the room. Neon lights flashing, music blasting, and people laughing as they continue to swing their bodies to the rhythm of it.

Their heavy footsteps could be heard, but there weren't many who turned in their direction, only newcomers and those who were spending the day there before continuing their travels, slightly terrified of their somewhat menacing presence in the room, but their company told them to just pay them no mind.

The shorter figure turned to his partner, letting his hand slide from his shoulder, down his arm, and then down to meet his hand before pulling away. Teasing, blending into the crowd. His partner turned to seat in a stool, his back to the bar. As he ordered their drinks, the bartender just nodded before going away, not giving it too much care to his appearance.

The taller figure scanned the dance floor in search of his partner, who seemed to be staring right back at him, like a predator eyeing his prey, but he turned away once their gazes met.

The shorter man slid through the pool of bodies with grace, looking around for any imminent threat. Gaze staying on others way longer than pleasant or wanted, sending shivers down their spines.

And as he found no threat, he turned back to his partner, who still hadn’t taken his eyes off him. Smirking under his mask, he turned his gaze away from him once again. Deciding to rather put on a show for him. Threading his fingers through his hair, he started swinging his hips along to the music. Arms going up in the air before rolling his hips to resume the staring contest with his lover, his hands then sliding down across his chest as he continued to swing his hips from side to side.

His partner to the unknowing crowd look unaffected by his performance, but deep down, he knew the other was dying to gets his hands on him. But like the good puppy he was, he remained seated, unphased.

He slid his hands up his sides, then up his neck, lifting his mask slightly so his lips were only visible. Even though his sight was now blinded he still went on with confidence, blowing a kiss his way, before lowering the mask back down, and moving to circle the dancefloor and make his way towards his partner slowly.

He sat on the stool beside him, crossing his legs, giving his partner’s thigh a squeeze to keep his attention on him. He lifted his partner’s mask, before grabbing a hold of his chin, the other’s breath hitching at the proximity and touch. His partner snaked his hands to rest on either side of his neck as he lifted his own mask with his other hand. He guided him into a fervently kiss, causing the other let out to moan. He pulled away, letting go on his chin, yet the other chased after him, but he lowered his partner’s mask and his own. That, earned him a defeated sigh, but he understood, retreating back to take a sip of his Coke and to scan the crowd again.

With the two of them with their back to the bar, they continued to zeroed in on people every so, their victims getting goosebumps, trying to get away from their sight every so. The taller one wrapping an arm around his partner’s shoulders, drawing them closer. Sometimes when a victim’s gaze met theirs, the shorter man would slowly wave before neatly folding his hands in front of his legs.

Sometimes that would get misinterpreted and his partner would have to curl his hands against their misguided company’s shirt and tell them to piss off. Their company scurrying off not long after.

But in the end, their intent was always met with the result they wanted, Fear.

To most, their presence was threatening and menacing, superior.

To their people, they were hope, gods, safety, and prosperity.

It wasn’t for nothing that they went their way to honor the title of, “Los Caza Cabezas”. Everyone knew better than to wrong them. They too, were after all, the ones who’d first dare walk among the dead with all their might and grace as if they were one of them.

[---]

It’s not like their life had changed a lot since the last time we had visited it. Or so they thought.

Nick and Troy still worked their early mornings hunting down walkers to bring their heads to the Matarife, so he could still make his odd drinks and they could get paid. Sometimes hysterical cackles could be heard coming from outside the Bazaar confinements, _but nothing to really be worried about_, a new guard and addition to the settlement would comment with a smile as he sweated nervously, though he was _secretly and extremely terrified of them. _

Newcomers and mere passerby-ers would still eye them warily.

The boys would still show up inside the Bazaar covered in blood and guts, Troy pushing the shopping cart and Nick skipping not far away from him, or sometimes Troy would be seeing pushing the cart and Nick would be inside the cart along with the heads.

Only, was there one occasion where Nick was seen pushing the cart and Troy inside it with a big smile, hair all over the place and looking like he had gone a bit overboard with caffeine, as he held onto his dear life of the railings. Nobody knew how that came to be, and remained oddly confused for the rest of their lives.

_ “Hey, you wanna try something?” Nick had asked him with a grin. _

_The other halted the cart, raising an eyebrow in suspicion, but he trusted him with his life, so he just followed to shrug it off, “Sure.” _

_“Alright, get in the cart, we’re going for a ride.”_

_ “Nick, there’s no possible way you could turn the use of the cart into something fun.” He said, following the other’s orders and hopping into the cart. _

_Boy was he wrong. Nick’s grin widened before nodding, “Sure a thing, Troy.” _

_Next thing you know, Nick and Troy were going to an inclined road. That’s where Troy realized his mistake, his eyes widening and blood running cold. He turned to Nick and he warned him, _“Nick.”

_Nick’s eyes now twinkling, “Nicky. _No.”

_ He slowly started pushing the cart slightly more forward into the road, “Nick, no, No, NO—”_

_ And so they went down the inclined road._

_ The cart gaining speed. Even though, in Troy’s opinion, Nick looked majestic with his hair waving against the wind, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. Adrenaline inducing? Yes. Close to matching the fear he felt when he calmed down Nick in the middle of a horde? Eh...Maybe?? Did his heart felt like it’d pound right out of his chest and it wasn’t because Nick was close near? Totally. _

_Two kinds of yelling were heard that day, one out of fear and another out of enjoying the high the activity brought. By the end of it, they were laughing their asses off until they grew breathless. _

_“Let’s do it again!” _

_“Nicky, darling, sol de mi corazón, please don’t. That was enough of a spook for one day.”_

_ Troy huffed, growing limp against the cart. _

_Nick hummed but nodding, “Alright.”_

[---]

Gossip still went on about their lives, they grew to know that it probably would never stop, but it’s not like they cared either way. As long as it didn’t interfere with their daily life they had no business with gossipers other than listening to what goofy stories they could come up with.

One of the things that had changed was that they now share meals with Lupe and Karina, sometimes with Antonio too, if Troy didn’t feel like punching his face for even looking Nick’s way. Depended on the occasion, but they were now more than acquaintances, they were friends. The small room would get filled with laughter and bantering.

“Lupe?” Nick said as he poked his head through the door, his partner following suit and deciding to rest his head on top of his, earning him a glare. They were both still in their full “scary” costumes.

“En la cocina!*” Karina shouted back.

“Y dicen que las chicas se tardan mas en arreglar.*” Lupe muttered as she rolled her eyes.

Nick waved at them, “Hey.”

He moved to untie his mask, while Troy just let his to rest flat on the top of his head.

“What took you guys so long?” Lupe huffed with her arms crossed.

The pair moved to take their seats, Troy sliding the chair out for Nick to sit in before sliding his own, the chairs making a squeaky noise as they were glided across the tiled floor. The other mouthed a “thank you”, receiving a nod and smile in return.

Troy’s hand moved to grab some of the food Lupe had cooked for them, before getting his hand swatted away by Nick. The other frowned but decided rather not to argue, settling to instead take a sip from the cup of water that was near his seat.

“You know, work, the usual.” Nick sighed.

“You don’t say…” Lupe said, her finger circling the edge of her cup, dismissively inquiring, “Was devouring the other part of the job?”

Troy followed to choke on his drink, covering his mouth with his arm, coughing.

“Small town, Nick, word gets around.” Karina noted.

“Doesn’t mean we still don’t get the result we wanted,” replied Nick, patting his partner’s back, “Plus the people know we mean them no harm. It’s just a facade for the new faces that could turn out to be our new enemies, you can’t trust many in this times anymore.”

“But Nick, you know you don’t have to play villains for us.”

“We’re not playing villains.”

“...Right.”

The room suddenly gone quiet, Troy sipping on his water being the only noise keeping them from absolute silence.

It wasn’t that long ago that they had finally reclaimed their new-found home.

Never once had they come to realize how attached they’d grown to the town.

The more time Troy spent on it, the more his old ways felt like an old nightmare. He’d grown to be more friendly and talkative with the people, knowing they meant him no harm. Did he have to learn Spanish the hard way? Sure, but he didn’t regret it in the slightest. The fact that this new space allowed him to flourish, made Nick’s heart swell.

Never had they given it much thought to the idea of getting sacked out of their place. But when the time came and the people shrieked, ran away, cried, and were shot at. Troy was partially left in shock, the past hitting him stronger than ever. Never had he thought he’d find himself standing at the other end of the sword, getting a gruesome taste of his own medicine.

_ “You monsters! You’ll regret ever crossing our path, assholes, you will regret—” Troy growled at their adversaries as Nick tended to him, pulling him back as he continued to kick and kick, trying to get out of his grip, “Let me go, Nick, let go!” _

_“I will let you go, when I know you won’t do something irrational, Troy.”_

_ “We can’t just leave, Nick, this is our town, our home—” Troy pleaded, “You can’t seriously be giving it up so easily, we have to fight back! We have to—” _

_“I hear you— Troy, just— TROY,_ STOP!”

_And his partner halted his struggles, his shoulders sagging in defeat at that. _

_“There’s nothing we can do right now.” Nick repeated, “Let’s just go. I promise you we will come back and fight for it, but do not get yourself killed before we can even do so.” _

_And with that, he let himself be led away from their home. _

_As time went on, a plan started brewing. They gathered rebel souls, taught them how to wield their power to their favor, how to blend with the dead as if they too were one. The plan started taking shape. Troy and Nick sharing a look. It had essentially taken them back to moments of their past. But this time, Troy had supporters to back his cause. _

_It’s not like they hadn’t offered their enemies a truce or negotiation before they had been kicked out. This time, Troy had supporters to back his cause, and it was for the right people._

_ “Hey” Nick greeted as he entered their poorly lit bedroom with splattered candles. _

_“Nicky!” The other said in return, beaming. _

_He turned back to his task at hand which was sharpening his machete, Nick took a seat beside him, “Troy, do you remember when I told you I’d stay behind to stop Taqa from entering the confinements ranch?” _

_He stopped, before continuing what he had been doing, “Yeah, I remember.”_

_ “I stand true to my words, you know. For this, our cause, I would.”_

_ “Nick, _there will be no need for you to go kamikaze._” Troy insisted. _

_“Maybe you’re right.” the other replied, placing a kiss on his cheek, “I’m gonna head to bed early tonight.”_

_ “Alright, que sueñes con los angelitos, Nicky.*” his partner snickered._

_ “‘Night” muffled Nick with his face on a pillow._

_ The next day, Troy found his back lacking its usual warmth and the frame of his lover against him. He turned to face the opposite side, thinking that maybe Nick had just shifted away. Groggily making his way to wrap an arm around his partner, he realized his arm flopped down on the bed on the bed. He waited for his vision to clear, he had awakened alone, a letter left in his place. _

_He prayed that the letter was nothing more than a joke from Nick’s last night comments, that he had just gone for a walk, or was just outside their room, smoking a cigarette. Hands continued to tremble as he read on, it wasn’t that Nick had given up on their mission and hang himself per se, but he sure was on his way on a suicide mission. The next few months were hard for Troy. But all Troy could do, was stay alive and believe that they’d see each other again. _

_Nick had chosen that it seemed rather proper to have them both attack from the inside and the outside, purge them out. So he infiltrated their ranks, gained their trust, had to go as far as to taint his hands with the blood of the innocent. But he kept reminding himself that he’d make them pay, that they’d make them pay. He’d encountered hard times of his own._

_ But even in hard times, the two of them manage to carve out moments of happiness with one another. There were times where Nick was close to spending the night at their room, but always before dawn hit, he’d be gone. There were occasions where only the mere presence of the other in the room provided comfort, sometimes they talked, sometimes they didn’t._

The waiting eventually grew to an end, their community once again united.

_ Nick had managed to find some time to meet with the rest before the purging commenced. All of them getting their armor and cover ready. Troy was just about to get his cover going, gutting out a walker._

_ He shot his partner a soft smile, which the other returned with a grin. Before he could submerge his hands into the corpse, Nick did him the honors. Moving to extended the blood all over his face as if it were a canvas, adorning his shoulders with guts. A mask made out of wood laid not far from him, he grabbed it, “A mask?”_

_ “Lupe suggested we wore them.” Troy started, getting a hold of it and tying the strings, “Makes me look scarier, doesn’t it?”_

_ “Hmm,” Nick pondered, smudging blood on it as well, “Yeah, no. You still look like my boyfriend, but with pointing teeth.” _

_“The lies, Nick, lies.” _

_To which he just shrugged, “You don’t scare me in the slightest.” _

_Troy took this time to do Nick’s cover, slicking his hair back with the remaining blood, trying to recreate the look he had when they had to dress up to honor the Day of the Dead. He eyed him fondly. _

_Whenever Troy would look at him like that, Nick wondered what had he done to get so lucky. He himself was never aware of when he naturally mimicked the same look, the only giveaway being his partner’s gaze averting from his and his hammering heartbeat. _

_Once their little rebellion made their way to the Bazaar along with hordes of walkers. Pots and pans were making some noise. Speakers and instruments blasted music. Their enemies barely stood a chance against the ferocity of it. The people covering themselves with blood and guts, with masks of all sorts, plastic, cast, wood. They were a terrifying bunch._

_ Their community made it beyond their home’s confinements. Even if some chose to put up a fight there was only so little weapons could do against hordes of the dead. Others valued their lives and ran, the rest had turned their backs against their fellow comrades choosing to rather join a more righteous leadership under Nick’s command._

Balance found itself restored.

The next days since the reclaim everyone kept their cover somehow, they took baths sure, but it took some healing to trust strangers in their trading post. Security around it increased, it was hard to get in or out without a proper cover. Troy and Nick essentially just added things to their job description, hence the threatening cover.

Troy cleared his throat then, stopping the other from getting lost reminiscing.

“Perhaps that’s the image we give off, and that’s fine.” Troy shrugged.

“You are the last person I’d find agreeing to the idea being called a vill—” Nick replied with an arched brow, before Troy placed his finger on his lips to shush him.

“Well, if the cause is right, the rest shouldn’t matter. Let the strangers call us whatever they want, in the end our heart is in protecting this place and the people know it. Heck, some still wear masks to pull off the fantasy that we’re truly a monstrous community.”

“Well, if you put it like that, I guess you guys are not.” Karina acknowledged.

“Too much talking, get eating!” Lupe huffed, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

“Finally.” Troy sighed, causing Nick to chuckle. He grabbed a hold of a tamal, and just took a bite out of it, the three of them now quite used to seeing him not eat food like it was usually eaten. A bit of it was on the corner of his lips, Nick smiled at that, and wiped it off with his thumb. He raised a brow and said through a mouthful, “What? Lupe’s cooking is the best, I’ve been dying for us to get to this part of the day. Thanks for having us.”

“No problem, boy. I’m pretty sure if I didn’t feed you myself, you guys wouldn’t eat anything and get disturbingly skinny. Then who would help mobilize a whole movement? Wouldn’t want that happening.” Lupe replied, shaking her head.

“Got any plans for another play?” Nick asked as he cut his food.

“Uh, después del desastre que fue la otra?? Are you really asking me?*” Lupe tried to answer, wincing.

Not a lot of people had gone to the play they had organized, Troy had not laughed (like Nick had reassured them), but he did keep forgetting his lines, and Nick kissed him in front of the small audience and he just kinda...froze (Lupe facepalmed loudly), in the end, the play was merely saved due to Nick’s improv and Karina’s intervention.

Karina turned to look at the mask Nick had placed on the table and beamed at them as an idea was being plotted in her head, “Que tal una obra con baile y las máscaras?*”

“Kari, pero si apenas pueden cantar—*”

“Excuse you! You have not heard me si—” interjected Nick.

“No, no, no. Sin canto, solo musica de fondo, y que se illustre una historia con baile!*” Karina reassured her, “Antonio knows how to play the guitar, that’s a start!”

“No necesitabas recordarme que podría hacerle una serenata a mi novio.*” Troy groaned, letting his head drop on the table. The other just rolled his eyes and patted him on the back.

Lupe burst into laughter while Karina giggled at his comment. “Last time I checked, he was close to serenading _YOU!_” She wheezed.

“Ay, dios mio, not that again. Please, stop there, do not go on.”

That just caused most of the people in the room to erupt into laughter.

Troy just took a sip of his water and glared at everyone, feeling betrayed.

“And when he—” Lupe continued on wheezing before grabbing a hold of Karina’s shoulder, “KARINA, _LA PIÑATA!_”

Troy spit out his water then, “Guys, can we not talk about my birthday—”

Karina nodded, wheezing as well, “When Nick convinced him that piñata was a word in Spanish for _DICK!_”

"_‘I wanna suck your piñata’_” Nick added snickering.

“NICKY, NOT YOU _TOO!_”

“LUCIANA! Ay pobrecita, she was _SCARRED!_”

“GUYS, STOP—”

“And when we- And when we were gonna hit that piñata on his birthday, AND HE THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA BREAK SOMEONE’S DICK!”

Troy’s imagination knew no bounds about how Mexicans celebrated or did anything.

The room eventually settled back down and returned to their original conversation.

“You talked about a story with just music and the masks...Like the one in the carnival of Tenosique?” Lupe questioned.

“Yes, exactly!”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try some other time...” She conceded with a shrug.

“Well, this has been a fun time,” Nick started, standing up and grabbing his mask from the table and tying it around his head, “Let us know if you think of anything for a story and we’ll be there.”

“Well, I’ll see you two later,” Troy said as he went to open the door with two tamales in bag, the two waving goodbye back at him.

As he opened the door, Antonio was at the other end, sporting a smile and greeted him, “Oh, hey, Troy—”

He was close to closing the door on him but instead, he greeted him curtly, "Antonio.”

“Que cocino Lupe esta vez?*”

“Tamales.”

“Oooh, tasty!”

“De verdad que si.*” Troy nodded.

“Oh- Right- I’ll let you guys walk through.” Antonio stuttered, moving to the side.

As they exited the room, Nick elbowed Troy, causing the other to let out a huff and utter a “See you later, Antonio.”

Which he got responded, “Later, Troy!”

Troy turned to look at the sky then, the sun was past set, a night starry sky coming to take over soon.

“I really don’t understand the harm in being nice to him” Nick mumbled.

“I’ll get around it, I promise.” He replied.

Troy and Nick went around the Bazaar with their masks for another round to terrorize newcomers, chatting in between, maybe be approached by any of the locals if someone was causing trouble. After their shift was done, they headed straight to their bedroom. Troy flopping onto their mattress, and Nick coming to snuggle right beside him wrapping his arms around his frame. Mumbling their “goodnight”s before sleep took over them.

This was the life they now had, it wasn’t the easiest, but it was certainly way better than the one they’d had lived in prior to the apocalypse or in the middle of it. Not that the apocalypse was close to ending now, but they knew their ways on how to survive, and they had each other to get through it together and that’s all that mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations aren't as plain or accurate as something Google Translate would say, they are translated in a way that they get across a meaning, action, or phrasing.
> 
> Translated specific sections of a dialogue are under this symbol "[]"
> 
> Los Caza Cabezas = The Heads Hunters
> 
> \---
> 
> * "En la cocina!" = "In the kitchen!"
> 
> * “Y dicen que las chicas se tardan mas en arreglar.” = "And they say women take longer to get dressed."
> 
> * “Alright, [que sueñes con los angelitos,] Nicky.” = a way to say, "I hope you have sweet dreams."
> 
> * “Uh, [después del desastre que fue la otra??] Are you really asking me?”= "After the mess that was the other one."
> 
> * “Que tal una obra con baile y las máscaras?” = "What about a play with just dancing and masks?"
> 
> * "“Kari, pero si apenas pueden cantar—*” = Lupe was picturing a musical, "Kari, but if they can barely sing—"
> 
> “No, no, no. [Sin canto, solo musica de fondo, y que se illustre una historia con baile!]*”= "Without singing, only music in the background to set a mood for a story with dancing!"
> 
> “No necesitabas recordarme que podría hacerle una serenata a mi novio*”= "You did not need to remind me that he can serenade my boyfriend."
> 
> “Que cocino Lupe esta vez?*”= "What did Lupe cook this time."
> 
> “De verdad que si.*”= "It really is."


End file.
